Broken Dreams
by sierrakrystalblack
Summary: Ron has left four days ago during their hunt for horcruxes, and Harry wakes up from a vivid dream. Hermione tries to help him, but they're both stubborn. One-shot. Connects to "Unexpected Laughter." H/Hr. Please R&R!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters. J.K. Rowling still does. :D**

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**Broken Dreams**

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It was breaking dawn, and the little birds were happily chirping. There was still an overcast, but it was still quite bright. The trees that seemed to be swallowed by darkness last night, were all distinct again. Inside the stained, white tent was silence. The two home owners were still fast asleep. They were both tangled up messily on the bed. The man's face was pained and frowning, while the woman lay peacefully in his arms. All too soon, the silence was broken by a loud grunt from the man.

Harry snapped up, awoken by the pain. His right hand made its way to his scar, while he hissed in pain. Hermione opened her eyes startled from both the loud noise, and the sudden movement. She took one look at her friend and sat up with him urgently. She was now sitting beside him, facing in his direction. She put her hand on his right shoulder and turned him to her.

"Was it a nightmare? Are you okay?" She worryingly asked. He gave no response. She shook her head in dismay, and took his right hand away from his scar.

"Harry it's bleeding, it might get infected." She told him softly, when he put his hand back to the scar. The physical pressure he puts on it seemed to lessen the pain. Understanding that he would be stubborn, she quickly summoned her purse. It flew right to her after a moment, and she easily caught it with both hands. She muddled through the items in her purse, and took out a potion. She measured the potion with a teaspoon and fed it to Harry.

"It should numb it down a little and relax you." She told him. He gave her a grateful nod.

"Thanks." He said, his voice rough with sleep. She gave him half a smile.

"No problem." She responded, placing the potion back into her purse. She then took out a small towel and gently wiped Harry's bloodied scar. She grimaced in disgust when she saw the contrast of the red on the white. Harry's tense shoulders relaxed, and she took this as her cue. She gave out a sigh and looked her best friend in the eyes.

"What was it this time?" She whispered, afraid of his answer. Harry saw her fear, and decided that he shouldn't tell her. He shook his head as if to say 'nothing'. She looked down at the towel and took a moment to think. She held out the towel to Harry, while looking at him a bit angry.

"This is not nothing, Harry! You have to tell me everything! You shouldn't hide things from me Harry, trust is vital right now. Your dream, or nightmare, or whatever, could be a massive clue! I need to know this, no matter how gruesome it was." She yelled at him. He looked at her angrily. He didn't expect her to get so angry all of a sudden. He was just trying to protect her. She didn't want to know, she was scared.

"No! It doesn't matter what it was. It's not important and I'd rather not tell you!" He yelled back. She was red with anger, and her tears were barely kept at bay.

"Fine!" She shouted, getting out of the bed and walking away. She stopped about a meter from him, her back on him.

"You're going to have to tell me soon. I may not want to hear it, but I do need to know. You have to trust that I won't leave you." She said softly. _'Not like Ron,' _they both finished in their heads. She continued on to the table, and started reading the book Dumbledore had given her. He could only stare at her for a minute. He then got up from the bed and walked towards Hermione. He took a seat next to her. She took her eyes off the book and looked at him expectantly.

"I wouldn't blame you if you left, I would completely understand. I wouldn't think less of you, you know. You would still be the most loyal person to me and you would still be my friend." He gave her another chance to leave. She frowned at him. She was starting to get annoyed from his offer. She shook her head in refusal.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I am not going anywhere. My place is right here, next to you, solving this impossible mission." She stated.

"I don't want to hear another offer from you, or I am seriously going to hex you! What I do want to hear, is your nightmare." She told him seriously. He realized that she was going to be stubborn about this, and gave in. He looked down at his hands and started.

"It's not a clue. I saw him torturing his deatheaters at first. He wasn't angry, they hadn't done anything wrong. He just did it for fun, for their fear." He whispered. He checked to see how Hermione was doing so far, and she was looking at the table in concentration. She was listening to him intently.

"Then, one of his henchmen came, Nott Sr. I think. He had an old muggle woman and her two children. The children were just about five and the other seven years old. Their eyes were filled with so much fear and confusion. The mom, she stood infront of her children, trying to protect them the best she could." Harry continued. Harry was really into the story and Hermione looked at him. She saw how much this affected him, she could tell.

"But Riddle just laughed at her bravery. She took that opportunity to kick Nott and she tried to run away with her children, but Riddle uttered _'Crucio'_ and she fell down on the floor writhing in pain. Her children, a boy and a girl, reached out to their mom. They didn't know what to do, they just hugged her. The boy shouted '_Stop it!'_ He caught Riddle's attention and tortured the kid. It was cruel." Hermione shivered from the content of the story and intensity of Harry's voice. It was like he was still there. It was like she was there.

"After a while, he stopped and looked at the little girl. She was crying to her unconscious mother, and her dying brother. The mother woke up then. She looked at her boy and cried out. His pain was her pain._ 'Noooo! Not my baby!'_ she sobbed at her drying son. Riddle pointed his wand at the little girl and the mom jumped in front of her daughter._ 'Why are you doing this to us? What have we done?'_ she asked him. He just shrugged, he didn't have to answer her. The little boy died, and his mom turned to him and held onto him. She was broken, she was so broken. Then riddle tortured the little girl. The scream, she was so innocent. It hurt the mother so much, and she tried to get in the way, but he quickly killed the little girl. He gave the mother a few minutes to cry for her children, before torturing her again." He finished. Hermione's tears fell silently. Harry was shaking from anger.

"That was what I saw." He whispered. "I just, it was so cruel. He didn't need to do that. He had no reason. The mother, she was like my mom you know. _'Not my baby!' _My mom said the same thing." He said softly. Harry's tears fell from anger. Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled herself to him. She crushed him into a hug. Harry slowly hugged her back, almost cautiously. She rubbed his back in comfort and he just cried on her shoulder. She then ran her hands through Harry's ebony hair. She kept rubbing his head until he quieted down.

"Thank you for telling me." She whispered. He nodded into her chest. He sighed and pulled away from her. She looked at him, her eyes filled with concern. He gave her a small smile to reassure her that he's okay. She smiled back.

"See? I'm still here." She jested, half serious. Harry's smile turned upside down. It was his turn to be concerned. She didn't know why Harry was so concerned. She gave him a questioning look.

"How are you doing? I mean, last night you were so upset. Are you okay? Will you be okay?" He asked her. Hermione started to look sad and disappointed.

"Thank you, for being concerned about me. I'll be fine, really." She assured him. He gave her a skeptical look. She gave a sigh of defeat.

"I liked him a lot you know? I thought we could have a romantic relationship. It broke my heart when he left. It was like my heart was being squeezed constantly." She explained. Harry fidgeted, uncomfortable with the topic, but he couldn't backtrack now. Hermione was oblivious to his discomfort and continued.

"He left though! He promised he wouldn't. We were supposed to be a team, a family. Families do not walk away from each other, not when they're needed the most. He is a complete bigot and a huge prat!" She yelled.

"I hate him! He ruined our friendship and he betrayed us. I will never forget this, I don't think I could ever forgive him. He already abandoned you once! How could he be so stupid as to do it again?" She asked rhetorically. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think I can forgive him either." He agreed with her. She looked at him sadly.

" I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean it. I know his your best mate, our best mate. We shouldn't give up on him." She backtracked. Harry shook his head in disagreement.

"Maybe one day, I can forgive him. Maybe, but I don't think I will ever forget. It will never be the same again, even if he comes in right now. You're my best mate Hermione, you've always been. I don't hate Ron; I wouldn't be able to, even if I tried. He may not be a great friend, but he was, once. He'll always be my first friend. He gave me a chance to feel like a part of a family and I'll always be grateful for it. He accepted me into his family and he's given me a lot of good, fun childhood memories. I could never hate him, for all he has given me. It's just, I can't rely on him, and that's okay. He'll always be my friend, just not so close. I'm sorry Hermione, but whatever happens, it's just not the same anymore." Harry explained. Hermione nodded her head in understanding. She gave him a sad smile and looked down at her hands.

"I don't have romantic feelings for him anymore. Well, not as much as before, and it wasn't that much to begin with." Hermione started.

"Like you said, it won't be the same. He's really disappointed me and his behavior was unacceptable. We fight way too much, although sometimes it's all for fun. Maybe we're not a good match after all. The only thing that kept Ron and I together, was you. You've always been our buffer, our balance, our bridge. Without you, I have no idea how we could have been friends. Let alone, my boyfriend. Anyways, it doesn't matter because he's not coming back. And even if he did, I don't think I could ever think of him the same way again. Too much respect has been lost." She said. Harry looked at her strengthening resolve. He gave her an encouraging smile.

"We'll get through this." Harry stated, grinning at her. She grinned back and took his hand. He squeezed her hand in acceptance. She gave him a nod.

"Together." She finished. Harry stared at her dark cinnamon eyes and she stared back at him. They quickly looked away from each other, blushing deeply. Something in the air was different both felt more relieved, and free. The heavy burden's been lifted off. This was a pivoting point for them. Harry was no longer angry at Ron, and he would stop secretly hoping for the red head's return. Hermione was no longer broken about Ron, and she would stop leaving items for the off chance he was looking for them. It was dangerous, what she did, she had given everyone footprints to follow. She was done with that now. They were going to move on, without Ron.

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**Author's note:**

**Hello, thank you for reading! This was going to be the second chapter to a story I was going to make, but I didn't like my plot, so I didn't continue it. I made a total three chapters for the story, but I just could not continue. I really liked how this 'chapter' flowed together, and I had to post it. The first part of this story is called "Unexpected Laughter," and I've posted it. Please read that one as well. Reviews will be appreciated!**

**PS.**  
**I'm sorry if his dream was too dark, that's why I rated it T. It's also, the reason why I didn't post it with the first part. Peace!**


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